Monday, September 28, 2009

Dumb College Kids

A 2006 Pew Charitable Trusts investigation showed that 50% of college seniors failed a test that asked them to understand a table about exercise and blood pressure, or understand newspaper editorials, or compare credit card offers.

About 20% of college seniors did not have the ability to estimate whether their car had enough fuel to get to a gas station. According to the National Assessment of Adult Literacy, the percentage of college graduates’ ability in literacy has declined from 40% to 31% in the past decade. Employers say many college graduates lack basic skills of thinking and writing.

I repeat what I said in my previous posting: The college system often does more for colleges, their teachers and staff, on balance, than it does for a large portion of their consumers, the students.

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